Kevin McCloud confirmed as RACF driver05 Oct 2011

C4 presenter behind the wheel of British grand design

Renowned author, broadcaster and designer Kevin McCloud will take the wheel of the Delta Motorsport E4 over the 57-mile course from Brighton to London on Saturday 5th November.

A champion of sustainable development, and founder and director of Hab Housing, Kevin is a natural choice to drive one of the most eye-catching cars in the high-profile eco-run.

Kevin McCloud said:

“The RAC Future Car Challenge is all about showing what a more energy-efficient, cleaner and healthier motoring future could look like and I’m very excited to be able to take part in an event that demonstrates how environmentally friendly cars can be sleek and sexy as well as whole-grain organic.”

The RAC Future Car Challenge will showcase about 80 of the very latest low-carbon cars – many of which are either in production or soon to hit the showrooms – in a competition to use the least amount of energy on the journey between the coast and the capital. The RAC Foundation is one of the sponsors of the event.

Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said:

“There is no greater challenge than cutting carbon emissions, and with around a quarter of CO2 coming from transport it is clear the automobile industry has to act. The evidence of the future Car Challenge is that car makers are already responding effectively.

“But running a green car is only part of the package. We need to adapt our whole lifestyles to being green. Kevin McCloud understands this and has championed it for many years. We are delighted he will be putting his right foot forward and driving our official entry in the Future Car Challenge.”

Simon Dowson, Managing Director of Delta Motorsport, said:

“The E4 is unique. Like a growing number of green cars we drive the wheels using a battery and electric motor. But we go further. Using knowledge gained in motor racing we have employed the latest aerodynamic, material and weight-saving techniques to make the E4 as energy efficient as possible.”

High quality images of Kevin McCloud and the E4 are available. Please contact Philip Gomm for details.

The RAC Foundation is a charity which explores the economic, mobility, safety and environmental issues relating to roads and responsible road users. Independent and authoritative research, carried out for the public benefit, is central to the Foundation’s activities.Delta Motorsport is an automotive and motorsport engineering consultancy that brings together innovative design, creative production solutions and skilled project management.Details of the Future Car Challenge can be found at www.futurecarchallenge.com

An author, broadcaster and designer, Kevin is best known for Channel 4’s Grand Designs and for his annual coverage of the Stirling Prize. He admits to an unhealthy obsession for buildings since childhood: he studied the history of them at Cambridge, has designed everything in and around them, has lit them and written about them. He now champions issues such as context, the historic environment and sustainable construction. His two ambitions are to entertain and to make the built environment better – and consequently ‘make people feel better’.

Kevin’s other forays into television include Don’t Look Down for BBC2 (2002), in which he climbed six tall buildings, and Demolition for Channel 4 (2005) in which he, George Ferguson and Janet Street-Porter started a campaign to improve public space in our towns and cities. In 2008 Channel 4 screened Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan, a major series that was five years in the making, covering the problems of urban regeneration and design quality in the public realm. The effects of this series have reverberated through government, councils and regeneration agencies across Britain.

Autumn 2009 saw a major four-part Channel 4 series, Kevin McCloud’s Grand Tour, about the European Grand Tour and its effects on modern-day design, architecture and town planning. In January 2010 Channel 4 screened Slumming It, a two-part documentary in which Kevin travelled to Dharavi in India to experience life in one of Asia’s biggest slums.In response to the terrible quality of housing in Britain, Kevin founded the development company Hab Housing in 2006. In partnership, the company is now building sustainable housing schemes across the West of England. And not forgetting our existing homes, in 2009 Kevin helped craft and launch the Great British Refurb campaign, a project which – working with the UK Green Building Council and the environmental charity WWF – is committed to making it as easy as possible for as many people as possible to give their homes a full energy makeover.

Mainly for getting rid of the capital ‘A’ from architecture Kevin was awarded two honorary doctorates in 2005, from Plymouth and Oxford Brookes and an Honorary Fellowship of the RIBA in 2007. He is a recalcitrant patron of several architectural and sustainable charities, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Foresters and a WWF Ambassador.Kevin McCloud MA (Cantab), HonD.Univ (Oxford Brookes), Hon.Ph.D (Plymouth) Hon. FRIBA , Hon.FICF